Net Neutrality: Time for Action

We know there’s a lot going on. But this is important. It affects the public’s ability to access and publish information.

What’s at Stake

Prospects for a neutral, open, and fair internet have taken a bad turn. In December 2017, the FCC changed its ruling and lifted the requirement for ISPs to be Net Neutral — which means that ISPs can choose what to speed up or slow down on the internet.

How long do you usually wait for a website to load before you click away? The effect could be devastating for media competition and especially for smaller companies that can’t afford to pay.

Of course, the ISP’s customers have already paid for internet. We think ISPs should not be charging both the customer (you) and the vendor (Netflix, or YouTube, or little startup company X).

Cruzio’s view is, if you’re paying for a connection, you should get to watch whatever you choose.

Where We’re At

So back to the beginning of this blog. There’s a chance to save Net Neutrality if we really try.

The FCC’s decision was in December, but it takes a while for such things to be official (“entered into the Federal Register”). That just happened February 22nd.

Once recorded, the Senate can rescind the regulation if they vote to do so within 60 days.

50 senators have already indicated they’d vote to overturn the recent decision. We just need one more senator.

Our California senators are already on board. And California’s Attorney General Xavier Becerra has joined 22 other attorneys general to sue the FCC and prevent the change. So in general California is already pro-Net Neutrality, though certainly they’d all appreciate a “thanks!”.

The most effective action: if you know someone in a state with Republican senators, contact your friend and get them to give their senators a nudge! Net Neutrality is very popular with the general public. Reminding senators of that has worked well in the past.

We need just one more senator.

By the way, the NRA awarded a rifle to Trump administration’s FCC Chair Ajit Pai for his work killing Net Neutrality. The award came just about a week after the Parkland shooting.